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U.S., other G-7 nations vow new sanctions

By Peter LeonardAssociated Press

Posted:
04/26/2014 09:24:23 PM PDT

SLOVYANSK, Ukraine -- As Western governments vowed to impose more sanctions against Russia and its supporters in eastern Ukraine, a group of foreign military observers remained in captivity Saturday accused of being NATO spies by a pro-Russian insurgency.

The German-led, eight-member team was traveling under the auspices of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe when they were detained Friday.

Vyacheslav Ponomarev, the self-proclaimed "people's mayor" of Slovyansk, described the detained observers as "captives" and said that they were officers from NATO member states.

"As we found maps on them containing information about the location of our checkpoints, we get the impression that they are officers carrying out a certain spying mission," Ponomarev said, adding they could be released in exchange for jailed pro-Russian activists.

Outside Slovyansk, a city about 90 miles west of Russia, Ukraine government forces continued operations to form a security cordon as it attempts to quell unrest threatening to derail the planned May 25 presidential election.

The U.S. and other nations in the Group of Seven said in a joint statement released Friday night by the White House that they plan to impose additional economic sanctions on Russia in response to its actions in Ukraine. The West has accused Russia of using covert forces to encourage unrest in Ukraine and says Moscow has done nothing to pressure pro-Russian militias to free police stations and government buildings in at least 10 cities across the region.

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Condemning Russia's earlier annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula, the G-7 said: "We will now follow through on the full legal and practical consequences of this illegal annexation, including but not limited to the economic, trade and financial areas."

The European Union is also planning more sanctions, and ambassadors from the bloc's 28 member nations will meet Monday in Brussels to add to the list of Russian officials and pro-Russian leaders in Ukraine who have been sanctioned with asset freezes and a travel ban.

The foreign military observer team detained by pro-Russian forces was made up of three German soldiers, a German translator and one soldier each from Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden and Denmark. Germany's Defense Ministry said the team also included five Ukrainians.

Tim Guldimann, the OSCE's special envoy for Ukraine, told German public radio WDR on Saturday that "efforts are being made to solve this issue." He declined to elaborate.

On Saturday, Yatsenyuk traveled to Rome to meet with Pope Francis and Italian Premier Matteo Renzi. Francis gave Yatsenyuk a fountain pen, telling him, "I hope that you write 'peace' with this pen."

Yatsenyuk replied: "I hope so, too."

In a briefing with reporters, he lashed out at Moscow, saying Russian military aircraft violated Ukrainian air space late on Friday.

"The only reason is to provoke Ukraine to strike a missile and to accuse Ukraine of waging a war to Russia," he said, and asked Russia "not to provoke and not to support Russian-led terrorists ... in eastern and southern Ukraine. We ask Russia to leave us alone."

The Russian Defense Ministry denied claims, first raised by the U.S. on Friday, that its aircraft had crossed the border with Ukraine, a spokesman told state news agencies on Saturday.